FARO PUBLIC Prosecutor has filed the case of an amateur photographer who was arrested in October (see The Resident edition of November 8) for taking pictures of children without permission at the Santa Iria fair in Faro.
The Faro Court told Manuel Cortez, 50, that he was no longer an “arguido” and returned his photographic equipment which had been confiscated by Faro PSP following his detention.
Although Manuel Cortez claims he felt humiliated “for being arrested and dragged in front of dozens of people”, he decided not to press charges against the Faro PSP agents.
The court’s decision was based on an article of the Portuguese Penal Code, which states that it is not a crime to take pictures of people in public spaces, unless the photographed person clearly expresses his/her opposition to it. As nobody presented a complaint against Manuel Cortez following the incident, his arguido status was dropped.
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